It's another beautiful day in the North West. Into Silloth first. A small, solid town with a Victorian grid pattern and robust colourful buildings.
Left Silloth. Wide open and flat - countryside which in some circumstances I've found depressing (Somerset Levels) today is invigorating. Massive expanse of blue sky speckled with perfect clouds.
Hmmm....
The empty country roads are fringed by wild flowers.
Through Abbeytown. Chatting to locals I find the North Cumbrian accent pretty similar to Newcastle - perhaps Hadrian's Wall acts as not just a barrier but a linguistic highway as well?
More great long, quite country roads.
Stopping at the church at Newton Arlosh. In these border areas the churches are fortified to protect against raids from the border reivers. Reiving focused mainly on stealing cattle and sheep.
I cross the River Wampool and then due to north to Bowness-on-Solway.
Arriving in Bowness-on-Solway the fortified church of St Michael's is next to my campsite. More evidence of border reivers. In 1626 the church bells were stolen in a raid but they were lost in the Solway when being taken back to Scotland. The villagers of Bowness retaliated by stealing the bells from Dornock and Middlebie. Every new vicar in Dornock, to this day, requests the bells back from Bowness. Requests that have always been refused.
